Storage of backups

I have to deal with hundreds of separate trees in order to manage a one name study website. I use RM4 on my desktop and TNG for my website. I have no problem with the export of gedcoms from RM4 to the website or of management of TNG but I do have a management problem with RM4 on my own computer because website users constantly request additions to each tree.

Currently I manage amendments by saving the details until I have several for the same tree ,retrieving the tree from RM4 files,adding or amending and then making a new gedcom for upload as usual. I then hit a problem because the tree I am looking for may not feature in the list of "recent files". When I ask RM to search for RM files I am faced with seemingly hundreds of files as backups.

Is there no way that a backup can overwrite the last backup? This would save me searching through all the different back up dates each time.

Is there a way that the most recent version can be retrieved more easily?

Also would it be better for me to make indivual folders for each tree storage.

My RM 4 files are in subfolders for each database name. You can go to Tools>program options and mark Add date to backup name, and this names the file as [database name] [date]. I like the date at the front of the file name, year-month-day, time [24 hour], computer used, database name. The files sort in date and time order with my file names.

You could have a folder, RM to TMG gedcoms, and appropriate subfolders for gedcoms which you will be importing into TMG.

I set the file paths at Tools>program options>Folders. For instance, the file pate for backups is D:\RM4 Data\Backup. When I save the backup, I then select the database name subfolder.

I think of folders and subfolders as divider tabs in a file cabinet with the file as the paper being filed or as an outline.

You can choose an existing file name and replace it when a backup of the database or a gedcom are saved to the hard drive. But I don't recommend doing so for backups especially. I import the newest backup at the end of the day into a new database and make sure it is good then delete the new database. I manually delete old backups and gedcoms from Windows Explorer after I save them to a jump drive and my portable hard drive.

penna_tmn, do you keep each tree in a separate RM file? and thus have hundreds of trees and files for people with the same surname.

At the risk of creating other problems that might arise from having too many eggs in one basket, why not put all the trees together in one RM database? Then you can use the Search/Select tools on the Date Last Edited field of each person to find all those persons edited since the date of your last export. You would have one file to administer, one backup, and increased potential to find identical people in separate trees.

The downside is that operations may slow down as we have heard complaints from users with very large databases.

penna_tmn, do you keep each tree in a separate RM file? and thus have hundreds of trees and files for people with the same surname.

At the risk of creating other problems that might arise from having too many eggs in one basket, why not put all the trees together in one RM database? Then you can use the Search/Select tools on the Date Last Edited field of each person to find all those persons edited since the date of your last export. You would have one file to administer, one backup, and increased potential to find identical people in separate trees.

The downside is that operations may slow down as we have heard complaints from users with very large databases.

Tom,Based on his having different trees in TNG, it may very well be easier for him to maintain separate database, especially if other users are maintaining some of the trees and especially since gedcom imports into TNG must be by tree.

Naming the databases the same as the tree name and creating sub folders in a RM backup folder structure using the tree name might be a way to organize the backups and then creating the database backups with a date as Laura recommended might be a good approach.

Thank you. I shall do as suggested. I already named the databases the same as the tree but I didn't have the wit to make sub folders. As Ken Roy says I do have to keep each tree separate but by using subforlers and dating backups that should help. I will be more regular with deleting old backups -it is when I leave it for while that I tend to get muddled.